TODAY'S FREE FLY STORIES

Pharmaceuticals are one of the defensive stocks in the current crisis, but it is too early to quantify the magnitude of a coronavirus benefit, Rupert Steiner writes in this week's edition of Barron's. Nonetheless, GlaxoSmithKline is worth paying attention to for unrelated developments that aren't yet factored into its value, the author notes, highlighting its trial of Cabotegravir, a regular injection to prevent HIV infection, that has been stopped three years early because of its success. Glaxo is also undergoing a restructuring, spinning off the consumer-health division that makes Advil and Panadol, and has a strong pipeline of potential blockbusters on the way, he adds. Reference Link

Zoom Video had one of the best earnings reports in the history of American business, sending the shares up 7.6% on Wednesday, Eric Savitz writes in this week's edition of Barron's. But the stock gave it all back plus more by the end of the week, which has to be a little worrisome for Zoom bulls, the author notes. The response suggests one has reached the upper limits of the remarkable rally in work-from-home stocks, he adds. Reference Link

Restaurant are gradually reopening for dining service and a recovery could bake in recent gains for the three largest restaurant suppliers, namely Sysco (SYY), US Foods (USFD) and Performance Food Group (PFGC), Daren Fonda writes in this week's edition of Barron's. The stocks should rise as states allow restaurants to reopen dining rooms, and the economy gradually recovers, and even if many local restaurants never reopen, distributors could become more profitable by servicing fewer locations, gaining efficiency, and lifting operating margins, the author notes. Reference Link

The food business has challenges, even if demand is not one of them, with the biggest being the supply chain, Al Root writes in this week's edition of Barron's. Keeping plants open and products flowing to the right customers have been difficult during the pandemic and as a consequence, agribusiness stocks, on the whole, are down about 9% on average so far this year, the author notes. Sticking close to the farmer is one strategy for investors, putting FMC (FMC) and rival Corteva (CTVA) in a sweet spot, he adds. Reference Link

Last month, SSR (SSRM) and Alacer (ALIAF), each with roughly $2B in market value, announced plans to combine in a no-premium merger of equals, with Rod Antal, Alacer's chief executive, becoming CEO of the combined company, which will take SSR's name, Nicholas Jasinski writes in this week's edition of Barron's. SSR and Alacer have complementary strengths, and the combined company's increased scale is expected to provide a bevy of financial benefits, the author notes, adding that as a result, the market is likely to reward the new SSR with a higher valuation than either company could have achieved on its own. Reference Link

Last month, Twitter angered its most famous user by tagging some of President Donald Trump's tweets as needing a fact check or glorifying violence, Bill Alpert writes in this week's edition of Barron's. The President dashed off a order aimed at stripping the social platform and its peers of legal protections around hosting content, knocking 9% off Twitter's stock, the author notes. But for investors able to stomach ongoing political debate, Twitter stock could bring substantial gains in the year ahead, Alpert adds. Reference Link

Fang Holdings announced that the ratio of American depositary shares representing its Class A ordinary shares is being amended from one ADS representing one Class A ordinary share to one ADS representing ten Class A ordinary shares, mainly in preparation for the pending spin-off of its internet businesses. There will be no change to Fang's Class A ordinary shares. Furthermore, no physical action by ADS holders will be required to effect the ratio change, as the change will be effected on the books of the depositary. The effect of the ratio change on the ADS trading price on New York Stock Exchange is expected to take place at the open of business on June 19 (U.S. Eastern Time). Any fractional ADSs will be sold and the net proceeds from the sale of fractional ADSs will be distributed to the holders entitled thereto. As a result of the change in the ADS ratio, the ADS price is expected to increase proportionally, although Fang can give no assurance that the ADS price after the change in the ADS ratio will be equal to or greater than ten times the ADS price before the change.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on his company's platform that, in response to criticism from employees over the company's decision to leave up controversial posts from U.S. President Donald Trump, the social media giant is going to review its policies allowing discussion and threats of state use of force to see if there are any amendments the company should adopt. "There are two specific situations under this policy that we're going to review," Zuckerbereg said. "The first is around instances of excessive use of police or state force. Given the sensitive history in the US, this deserves special consideration. The second case is around when a country has ongoing civil unrest or violent conflicts. We already have precedents for imposing greater restrictions during emergencies and when countries are in ongoing states of conflict, so there may be additional policies or integrity measures to consider around discussion or threats of state use of force when a country is in this state." The CEO added that Facebook will review policies around voter suppresion, as well as potential options for handling violating or partially-violating content aside from the "binary leave-it-up or take-it-down decisions." Zuckerberg also said he will work to establish a clearer and more transparent decision-making proces, as well as review whether the company needs to change anything structurally "to make sure the right groups and voices are at the table." Zuckerberg also said Facebook has started a workstream for building products to advance racial justice and that Facebook is building a voter hub to "double down" on previous "get-out-the-vote efforts." "To members of our Black community: I stand with you. Your lives matter. Black lives matter," he added. Reference Link

General Electric was awarded a $180.6M firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract procures commercial depot level services for the repair and overhaul of T700-GE-401/401C turbo shaft engines, cold section modules and power turbine modules for the Navy H-60 Seahawk helicopter as well as the Marine Corps H-1 Cobra and Bell UH-1 Huey aircraft. Work will be performed in Wingsfield, Kansas and is expected to be complete by June 2025. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division is the contracting activity.

SCWorx announced that on June 1 and June 2, 2020, the Nasdaq Stock Market notified the company that it was not in compliance with the Nasdaq's rules for continued listing because the company has not yet filed its 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as required by Nasdaq Rule 5250(c)(1). The Nasdaq notification requires the company to submit its plan to regain compliance, no later than July 3, 2020. In response to the Nasdaq notification, the company intends to file its 2019 10-K during the week ended June 12, 2020, but in any case, before the due date for submitting its compliance plan to Nasdaq, the effect of which will be that the company will have cured the deficiency specified in the notification.

OnDeck Capital announced that it received notice from the NYSE, that the company does not meet an NYSE continued listing standard that requires the company to maintain a minimum average closing price of $1.00 per share over a period of 30 consecutive trading days. The company notified the NYSE of its intent to cure the deficiency and return to compliance with the NYSE continued listing requirements and is evaluating options to do so. Under the NYSE's rules, the cure period traditionally extends for six months following receipt of the notification. However, the NYSE has extended the cure period relating to this listing standard to January 1, 2021, in recognition of unprecedented market declines resulting from COVID-19. The company can regain compliance if, by the end of the cure period, OnDeck common stock has a closing share price of at least $1.00 and an average closing share price of at least $1.00 over the preceding 30 trading-day period. Alternatively, the company can also demonstrate an accelerated cure based on a $1.00 share price on both the last trading day of any calendar month within the cure period and the average share price of the 30-trading days preceding the end of that month. During the cure period, the company's common shares will continue to trade on the NYSE under the symbol (ONDK) but will have an added designation of to indicate the status of the shares as "below compliance" subject to compliance with other continued listing requirements.